Over on the “Paul’s Essential Elements” thread, in response to an excellent post by Chris Dingman, we’ve been having a fascinating conversation about what both Lennon and McCartney brought to their artistic partnership. We’re also having a conversation about it over on Mike’s post, “John Lennon: Man of the Decade,” because that’s how we roll […]

Guest Dullblogger Chris Dingman has just written a very interesting and well-expressed post on Paul McCartney’s essential contribution to the Lennon/McCartney partnership, and you should probably read that before reading this. This post began as a comment to that post, but as I wrote I felt it ranged too widely, and touched on something too […]

by Chris Dingman, guest Dullblogger So many stars had to align for the Beatles to come blazing forth. Without a slew of key elements—the end of compulsory National Service in 1960, Hamburg, Brian Epstein, and George Martin, to name just a few—The Beatles as we know them might never have been. Of course the band […]

This started as a comment on Mike’s “Were John and Paul Lovers?” post. Though I wrote it before commenter Marcua’s thoughts came in, we’re expressing some similar ideas about the probable roots of John’s post-India hostility toward Paul. I very much doubt that Lennon and McCartney were ever lovers. There’s enough credible evidence that Lennon […]

There’s a topic simmering in a few comment threads at once, and so I thought I’d surface the topic as a post. Basically, it’s the old question of John’s attraction to Paul, and whether it was sexual in nature; and furthermore, whether the friendship of these two men — undeniably close in every other way […]

I was inspired by our recent mention of the ancient medical (?) practice of trepanning to seek out the source of John Lennon’s inspiration all those years ago: the documentary “A Heartbeat in the Brain.” In this 1970 film, scientist and seeker Amanda Feilding trepans herself on camera. Like many who saw it, this blew […]

J.R. Clark, guest Dullblogger • Of the many personas David Bowie created during his entertainment career, perhaps none was more memorable and influential than the protagonist of his song, “Ziggy Stardust”. The song tells the story of a musician in a rock band who becomes famous. The fame makes him conceited; he seizes control of the band from […]

DEVIN McKINNEY • There used to be a fun little shadow business going in fake Beatles records—songs with a Beatlesque sound, or just a Beatle-sounding name on the label, that got taken, however briefly and inexplicably, for the real thing. The Knickerbockers’ highly convincing knockoff “Lies” lay at one end of the scale, with something […]

Reader Nicole wrote in yesterday: “Sometimes I think I will scream the next time I hear or see Lennon VERSUS McCartney. However, this video has gained a little traction in the past day and it really interests me. Lennon storms it, but it’s the way people answer and their reasons (sometimes given, sometimes not) which […]

Commenter Linda asked a provocative question this morning which I felt was worth its own post. I’ll paraphrase it: Do you think that female Beatle fans see the relationship between John and Paul more clearly, more accurately, more totally than male Beatle fans do? Here’s Linda’s comment: Do more women than men see the John […]